


Right Now

by simply_aly



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-30
Updated: 2012-12-30
Packaged: 2017-11-22 22:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/615055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simply_aly/pseuds/simply_aly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I don’t want to string you along, Tyler, and anything more than friendship would be me doing just that.”</p>
<p>(Before Tyler learns that Caroline is a vampire.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Right Now

“Do you trust me?” Tyler asks her one night as they’re to her house from the Grill.  
  
They were out to eat for dinner, and it was a nice night, so they decided to walk home—but he wouldn’t let her walk home alone…even if she is a vampire who can easily take on ten humans at once.  
  
Caroline looks at him quizzically. “Of course I trust you, Tyler,” she says. “Why wouldn’t I?”  
  
“Something’s wrong, Care,” Tyler says, stating the obvious, for they can both feel how distant she’s been lately. “And I’ve been asking and asking and hinting repeatedly, but you keep insisting that everything is fine, but I know it’s not.”  
  
His voice is raised slightly, and she turns and motions for him to keep it down.  
  
Tyler’s shoulders sag just slightly, and they both continue walking without speaking for another block.  
  
“I swear to you, nothing is wrong—no one is in danger—I’m just dealing with something right now and I don’t particularly want to share it at the moment.”  
  
He looks over at her and Caroline almost feels guilty when she sees the hope cloud his vision. “But you’ll tell me when you’re ready—it isn’t a secret?”  
  
Caroline shakes her head and grabs his hand in hers. “No, it isn’t a secret.”  
  
-x-  
  
Five weeks later and Tyler is so close to just forgetting the whole conversation.  
  
He sees Caroline every day, and she’s smiling and laughing with him again, and they hold hands whenever they’re relatively alone. Things are good. Yet…something is off, and sometimes he feels her freeze when he gets to close.  
  
Finally, one night when they fall asleep studying at his house, he wakes up in the middle of the night to see her staring at him.  
  
“I feel guilty,” she whispers.  
  
Tyler blinks a couple of times in confusion, unsure where this conversation is stemming from. Playing dumb, he says, “We were only studying, Caroline…there’s nothing to feel guilty about.”  
  
The small smile makes the comment worth it. But then, her eyes fill with tears. “But I want to do more,” she admits, and Tyler’s eyes go wide.  
  
He wants her to do more with him as well, but he never thought she’d be ready for that after Matt.  
  
“Why do you feel guilty?” he asks.  
  
“I don’t want to string you along, Tyler, and anything more than friendship would be me doing just that.”  
  
Tyler cannot deny that whatever they may end up, it would not last forever; it can’t when she’s never going to age and he’s going to grow to be an old man and die.  
  
“Do you trust me?” he asks the question again and Caroline nods without any prompting.  
  
“More than anyone,” she murmurs against his pillow.  
  
“Then believe me when I say that we have right now. There’s no point in wasting now because of what will happen in the future. It’s going to happen regardless, and what we have right now is worth more to me than making sure my heart doesn’t get broken.”  
  
Caroline starts to cry. “But I don’t want to be the one to break your heart.”  
  
“As long as you trust me and believe in _us_ , you cannot break my heart, Caroline.”  
  
She sobs then, but he sees the smile on her face; and when she kisses him, he knows he will never regret this decision.


End file.
